Family reunion of sorts for White Point staff

Dwight Dagley started at White Point Beach Resort 18 years ago washing dishes. He is now a sous chef, winner of a national chef's competition and glad to be back at work after Robert and Alicia Risley rebuilt the resort’s main lodge. (BEVERLEY WARE / South Shore Bureau)

WHITE POINT – Eighteen years ago, Dwight Dagley got a job as a dishwasher at White Point Beach Resort because the autobody technician and machinist couldn’t find a job in his field.

Today, he is a nationally accredited sous chef who took first place in a competition that featured three chefs selected from across Canada, and he’s darn happy to be back on the job after his workplace, the main lodge at White Point, burned to the ground a year ago.

The equipment in the kitchen is new and shiny, a thrill for any chef, but more important for Dagley is the fact his co-workers are back.

White Point general manager Danny Morton said 90 per cent of employees have returned.

“We thank you all for the faith you had that we would reopen and your jobs would be more secure than ever,” resort owner Robert Risley said Monday at the grand opening.

Dagley said “it’s more like a family here.”

“Everybody knows everybody, and after a year, it’s nice to come back.” He hasn’t wasted any time getting his hands clean.

The food started arriving Monday and the first guests checked in Thursday. The resort is open only on weekends for November, but it opens full time in December.

Dagley was feeding guests Monday as owners Robert Risley and his wife, Alicia, thanked those involved in the lodge’s reconstruction with the grand reopening.

“If I seem a little discombobulated this morning, it’s because I am discombobulated today,” Robert Risley said, touched with the emotion of all that has taken place over the past 12 months.

He is thrilled that the lodge, which bears clear markers of its predecessor yet is bright and modern, opened just seven months after workers broke ground for the foundation.

One month after the fire, Risley issued a request for proposals for the project, which would have normally taken two years to design and build.

He selected WHW Architects Inc. and principal architect Joe Zareski to spearhead the project and commercial interior designers Design360 and construction manager J.W. Lindsay Enterprises to bring his vision to life.

Zareski said, in a sense, he had been in training for this project for 30 years because he and his brother built sandcastles at White Point when they were young boys.

He said the magic of White Point is found in experiences and memories, and he described it as a place that calms the soul and lifts the spirit.

The rebuild team took people’s collective memories gathered from around the world through social media and incorporated them into the design — words such as “warm, familial, authentic, iconic, honest, tradition and home” were used in the descriptions, Zareski said.

Natural materials evoke rustic charm but are complemented by contemporary features such as exposed structural steel and efficient heating and electrical systems that make the lodge more energy efficient, he said.

Just five months after flames consumed the lodge, built in 1928, Risley said workers began the ambitious task of ensuring the new structure would open within a year of the fire.

“The successive seven months were probably the busiest, most hectic, most rewarding and absolutely the most fun I’ve ever had.”

As the project progressed, he said his enthusiasm was tempered with ever-increasing emotion as the enduring magic of White Point became apparent.

Heavy equipment operators, for example, brought carrots in their lunch boxes to feed the bunnies, and those same workers built little fences around the rabbits’ nests to protect them from machinery, Risley said.

The project was “a boon to the local economy,” he said, and while he and his wife felt it was important to retain the homey feeling of the old lodge, “we also wanted to be able to showcase our local talent ... give them an opportunity to showcase their craft in a public venue.”

Dover Masonry assembled stones picked from above the high-water mark on the beach. The stones anchor the building’s foundation, extend up the pillars to supporting mirrored stairwells and adorn the fireplaces. Steve’s Ironworks of Maitland finished the ironwork around them.

The rough timber was milled by Amos Wood Mouldings & Millwork of Blockhouse, reclaimed timbers are integrated throughout, and LakeCity Woodworkers of Dartmouth, which employs the mentally challenged, made tables and chairs in the building.

Handcrafted tables in the lounge were made with lumber from New Germany and the family dining table in the restaurant was made from 100-year-old loft planks.

Risley said the banquet rooms reflect the region’s nautical heritage, with door handles that are made of brass cleats that were custom cast by Lunenburg Industrial Foundry & Engineering and photographs of the original Bluenose and its crew that were taken by the late Wallace R. MacAskill hang on the walls.

Alicia Risley personally selected the local folk art that adorns the lodge and fills the gift shop.

The Risleys invested almost $7 million in the rebuild, saying it represents their faith in the tourism industry and the community.

Leonard Preyra, minister of communities, culture and heritage, has been staying at the resort because Liverpool hosted Nova Scotia Music Week.

“This is a showcase — it’s a showcase of beautiful work, it’s a showcase of beautiful scenery, it’s a showcase for beautiful people.”